The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, June 03, 1916, Image 2
1. Om^m^^^^^^^ g0tMjion ia column; il^cor? of The Battalion; 4, The Battalion i
in Line.
Dome ia tarntet far Boy? ?n
Ol Countty.
__ _Y?n Ago Prow?aecats Becauee
Iii Datialtta tt fhJlrr-* Md to Individual* -Superiaten
Bitaaada Potato oat Some of Practica? Results of
Ork in School
e?
flUf* following article wan prepared
by Superintendent &
of the Sumter city
eneT hi reproduced from that
Tie cute were mado by The
end are used through
uppermost in the Amor
?iked today Is that expressed by
W*|rd preparedness. The name
fe? %ftd>ft prominent ploce lagt No
Hiber. It was for this reason thst
?rileie on military training In the
high school In The Review of
l*W tor November' evoked so
eomfosnf. It Is for this reason
I am still getting letters from
int sections relative to the sys
h- of military training In our
???. Since November I have re
letters of Inquiry from every
of America.
training since that time
Introduced Into th? public
Systems of some of our largest
and the question Is a very live
everywhere. Those who have
Inquiries read the article In The
of Reviews; but the author of
article In that magaslne was nat?
urally very much limited In space and
could not. therefore, go Into the
Its that the seekers after infor?
ms request.
About lb years ago. before military
> pa redness was an Issue, some of
boys rams to me with a request
W* organise a military company
request was granted und a com
of nineteen boys was organised,
that company In memory's
ilrror now?awkward, ill at ease,
Ineffl lent, but eager to learn, in
to excel. It happened that W.
Manning, a son of the present ftov
>r, now engaged In newspaper
In Washington, was at tbut time
the last year of the high school
wss a member >f the Sumter
t Infantry- He was chosen as the
captain of the military organiza
for a year <?r two we minted to
oh wMh"ut a commandant, but
company had grown into several
ipanles and *e needed expert an
To this end Ms.!. Eppe,
a prominent attorney at the
tar and at present seuatoi
from this county, was elected as com?
mandant of cadets. Ms. JSpps was
graduated from the Citadel, the Mili?
tary College of South Carolina, ths
West Point of the South. This insti?
tution has furnished the command?
ants for our school. The company of
It had then become a battalion of
three companies. Now there are four
companies, with about 175 cadets.
Mr. Epps was succeeded by W. M.
Scott, at present the acceptable su?
perintendent of the public schools of
Blahopville. Mr. Scott was sr
ed by A. B. Merrimon, whose very
promising life was cut short, and he,
by 8. A. Woods, the present com?
mandant. The school has been ex?
ceedingly fortunate in the men that
it has had as commandants and the
State of South Carolina is fortunate
in having a military school that fur?
nishes to the schools of the State
graduates who are trained to do this
kind of work with such marked effi?
ciency.
The most difficult task was procur?
ing the rifles. The school bus to
thank, and it does make its cheerful
and grateful acknowledgements to.
Senator B. H. Tlllmun, who handled
a very difficult problem for us in a
highly satisfactory manner. The school
ts now equipped with the old Spring?
field rifles. We have m?do frequent
efforts to obtain the modern rifles,
but there is a most stringent regula?
tion of the war department against It
and we have been unalde to succeed.
It Is l>cllcvcd that all of the agitation
for military preparedness will cause
congress to modify this provision.
Several school* that have tried this
military system have fulled, been use
they have Insisted upon the purchase
of expensive uniforms and because
they have endeavored to convert a
pu?>|to school into a military camp.
O* uniforms, which are worn only
on dress occasions, consist of a pair
of wblte trousers, a blue coat and n
j white cap. The whole outfit neod
I not cost more than $5 and will las'
'for several years. Tbe coat Is use.
.every day, thus reducing the cost of
I the uniform to almost nothing. Tin
development of the military fcatUII
is the public school is a plero o'
progressive evolution and can not be
fastened- open an institution by a
(efcig^Set educational legislation,
this ?hase of training must grow
into a system of schools, it refuses
to be tacked on. Some schools have
flailoo^ecausp .they were not willing
fco^wkltfor development.
As has been mentioned above, our
boys wear their uniforms only upon
dress occasions. Our drill period is
15 minutes a day. Immediately af?
ter this drill there is a recess l??rlod
of 1* minutes. The class organisa?
tions are not dependent upon the
military organization. One* may be a
private in his class and an officer in
his company, and vice versa. Be
thus learns how to obey and to com?
mand almost simultaneously.
The school penalties do not conflict
with those for breaches of military
regulation. After the student has
finished his duties in the class room
and has made up any time due there,
he serves his time in walking post
on the school campus with the stipu?
lation that no student is required to
walk extra duty longer than 45 min?
utes after the regular hour for dis?
missal. His time that may still be
due is carried over by the officer of
the day.
A medal is offered for proficiency
in the manual of arms. The whole
battalion on a fixed day Is reduced
to nine men. These nine men com?
pete on the day of-the dress parade
and they are reduced to three. These
competo for a medal on the first night
of the closing exercises of the school.
An annual battalion dress parade is
held, which attracts the people of
the city in large numbers.
Military organization In the high
school appeals to the adolescent in?
stinct of grogarlousness.
The organization of military com?
panies in the school Is, therefore, a
simultaneous appeal to an Interest
and an instinct and the result, if sano
methods are used, is naturally grati?
fying. The students are very fond
of the drill and In our own schools
they are just as enthusiastic about It
as they were 15 years ago and the
condition of the battalion is at pres?
ent better than it has ever been be?
fore, on account of the natural de?
velopment and because tho traditions
have with age become more firmly
fixed.
We have found that it gives to the
boys' school the atmosphere of
masculinity that Is desirable and that
appeals very strongly to the boys
themselves. We believe In the
segregation Of the sexes. We believe
that the atmosphere oT a boy's schorl
mould be Vibrant with vigorous viril?
ity. This does not Imply brutilltv,
for "the bravest are the tenderest,
the loving are the daring" end
"tenderness is as divine as strength,'
but there Is an atmosphere <?f un
obstruslve Strength, Of latent force ,of
masculine masterfulness, and it is this
atmosphere that should pervade a
school for boys of the adolescent age.
We have found that military organ?
ization adds materially to the quali?
fies of the kind of environment that
we seek.
The adolescent loves order, system
-~-1 mm W'?' ' 1 ? ?
and orga^gfcaHlon. It certainly Is a
distinct advantage to the school to
have it in;'an organization that makes
the machinery of the school run with
precision and smoothness. It is an
advantage???for a principal of one
school -to.\$g3*ble. to request tho com?
mandant of the boys' high school' to
?< nd over 50 or 77> boys iii military
'formation and to know th.it it will
oe dene without trouble or incon?
venience to any one.
We have, found that thje military
I discipline stimulates some of the
[great and stern and fundamental vir?
tues bf strong character. To learn
to obey by obeying; to learn that
to command one must first learn to
obey; to learn.in a practical way to
have consideration for the rights and
feelings bf others; to learn the value
of truth by a necessary adherence to
details, to learn the absolute need of
concentration cf mind, if one would
excel in the drill; to have the sugges?
tion of moral uprightness by the hab?
itual erect carriage of the military
cadet?all of these are lessons that
one may learn from the daily drill
and these lessons are taught so unob?
trusively that the student does not
feel the oppressiveness of the direct
moral lesson.
It has been definitely charged that
military training in the public high
school leads to bruitality and mili?
tarism. (This is no man of straw set?
up simply for the pleasure of com?
plete demolition; but it is an actual
reason urged by a prominent educa?
tor in a large city not far from' Chi?
cago. The chairman of the board of
education of that city wrote me that
there were nine members of the
board, that five were in favor of mili?
tary training in the public high
school and tour opposed. That the
superintendent had given as his ex
cathedra opinion that it would surely
lead to bruitality and militarism.
This is a question that can not be
argued in an academic way. There
are those, who would maintain tho
affirmative of this question with such
convincing cogency as to create an
element of doubt in the mind of the
seeker after truth* until he should
have become fortified by the more
logical reasoning of those, who could
point out the fallacy of such specious
reasoning. Fortunately academic dis?
cussion is not necessary. If, after
fifteen years of continuous tiialv we
can show that military training in the
public school does not result in mili?
tarism or bruitality, a very great bur?
den of proof will rest on our oppon?
ents to demonstrate without question
that our experience is an exception to
the general rule. To this end I have
written to some gentlemen, who are
in a position to know our students and
their testimony Is given below. May
we not ask that these letters 1?e read
with care by those who are really
looking for the truth of this question
thut means so much to the educa?
tional world in America today?
The excerpts from the letters fol?
low :
flov. It. T. Manning says: "Nine
of my own sons hove attended the
bii;h MsjtyoOt. 1 have had niun
dant opportunity to observe other
boys, who have been under that same
influence. I wish to express the opin?
ion that the military training that the
boys have received has been a dis?
tinct benefit to them. The objections
raised that such training will lead to
militarism or brutality are absolutely
without foundation in fnef. Experi?
ence has shown that uniier military
[training the boys have shown marked
improvement in their carriage and
manner; that such training cultivates
prompt obedience, alertness, precision,
neatness, while at the same time it
encourages manliness in deportment
and improves the general tone of the
student body. I have never seen the
first symptom of development of bru?
tality or undue militarism. I have
no hesitancy In advising the high
schools of the State to adopt military
training wherever practicable."
J. E. Swearingen, State superinten?
dent of education, writes as follows:
"Their military training has given
them that fine touch of politeness and
consideration characterizing the inter?
course of gentlemen of the highest
type. The effects of this training nn
the school, the boys, and the com?
munity have been admirable."
Dr. W. S. Currell, president of the
University of South Carolina, says:
"The University of South Carolina
has had pupils from the Sumter high
school for a number of years and
they are amongst the very best train?
ed and prepared students that we
have at our Institution. The young
men from this hi^h school who have
been students at the University of
South Carolina give no, evidence what?
ever of brutality nor do they evince
the spirit of militarism falsely said
to be characteristic of graduates of
military institutions."
Dr. II. N. Snyder, president of Wof
ford college, writes:
"It. gives me great pleasure to say
thdt we find the students trained in
the Sumter high school to be well
trained not only in scholarship but
in conduct and in character. They
show none of the qualities which those
who oppose military training in
schools fear."
Many of our students after grad-^
nation go to college. Some do not,
and, in addition to this, there Is a
long period in which the students who
are receiving this mlltary training
are in Sumter. I have, therefore, re
quested a letter from L, 1). Jennings,
who has been mayor of the city for
quite a number ol* years?a genle
man who, as it is well known, does
not hesitate to express his opinion
honestly and fearlessly. The mayor
says: "My observation leads me to
the belief that military training in
the Sumter high school has not cul?
tivated a spirit of mlltarlsm or bru?
tality; on the contrary, it seems to
have had the effect ot keeping the
boys In school until graduation, while
Utting them to be soldiers should the
(necessity arise. I have not seen a
single instance among the many boys
trained in military tactics in the high
school, where such training had the
?dichtest tendency toward brutality or
the inculcation of a spirit of mili?
tarism."
How is it at school? Are the boys
there militaristic or brutal? I may ?
say that even what the boys call a.
I "scrap" is an exceedingly rare occur?
rence and they do not tolerate an act
of imposition. Only a few weeks ago
we had a boy to say to us that his
father was a traveling man and he
had t<? anve from town to town and
from State o State, rind that he was
very sorry to leave us, for a^hougo
he was a new boy, Uic boya h.-d treat
ad him like a brother. I mention this
only to make the circuit of evidence
complete.
But we are told by a writer In one
of the leading magazines of America
that military training in the public
high school results eifher in mili?
tarism or in failure. To answer this
I have asked for an expression from
three men greatly interested in mili?
tary affairs of our city. Their letter
la given below.
Capt. Robt. T. Brown, Capt. Geo. C.
Warren and Maj. James W. Bradford
have made the following report:
"In compliance with your request
for information in regard to the mili?
tary efficiency of men who enlist in
the Sumter Light Infantry, company
L, Second infantry, X. G., S. C, from
the Sumter high school battalion, We
submit the following statements:
"1. Since tho beginning of military
instruction at the Sumter high school
practically all the officers and the
non-commissioned officers of the
Sumter Light Iqjpantry have been men
whose fundamental military training
was received during the formative
period of life while at the Sumter
high school.
"2. In comparing recruits coming
to us from tbe Sumter hi:5h school
with those who have not had previous
military training our experience has
been that tbe former can be placed
immediately anywhere in raaks, while
the latter have to be trained for a
considerable length of time in awk?
ward squad before they can be used
at all, anywhere.
"We, the Undersigned, have each
enjoyed the privilege of commanding
the Sumter Light Infantry and take
pleasure In stating that, with prac?
tically no exceptions, those who en?
list in that organization from the
Sumter high school make manly sol?
diers and tbe company has always
had just reason to feel proud of
them."
Let me say that, when our military
department was organized we did not
have military preparedness anywhere
in our system of thinking. We or
ganlaed it for the reasons given above
and many of the advantages that had
not then occurred to us have become
apparent since the system' was intro?
duced. We believe in peace. Wo
preach it and try to practice it. But
we have long believed that only the
strong con be gracefully magnant
moui and our country needs at this
time more than at any other period In
its history tho graceful magnanimity
that comes from strength. Certainly
it would not detract from this
strength if from every high school